The present disclosure relates to lighting assemblies, and more particularly, to adjustable light-emitting diode (LED) recessed lighting assemblies with integrated electronics.
Recessed lighting assemblies or fixtures are designed to be recessed into a building member, which building member is most commonly a ceiling. Often, installation of a recessed lighting assembly includes installing and attaching many different components on the inner (upper) area or surface of the building member with the lighting components housed within a portion of the assembly and positioned within a hole in the building member. In such assemblies, typically, a support or frame is attached to the building structure above the ceiling along with additional operational components such as wiring and an electronics unit including a driver circuit for activating and operating the lighting components. Often, these components are all separate units pieced together by the installer. An additional complication often arises when installing lighting fixtures in this manner in that the installer must painstakingly ensure that all measurements and positioning of the different components complies with relevant building codes.
Further, it is often desirable to access inner or upper components of an installed lighting assembly, for maintenance of the electronics or adjustment of any elements or similar. For example, an electronics unit may house a driver circuit or branch circuit for operating the lighting components within the assembly. In recessed lighting assemblies, electronics units like these are commonly hidden behind the building member within which the lighting components are recessed. In most known recessed lighting assemblies, gaining access to the electronics unit is often burdensome, time consuming and costly in that it requires accessing the inner components from above the ceiling, cutting into the ceiling or other building structure and/or disassembling the lighting fixture or components or other parts of the assembly.
Adjustable systems and assemblies have been developed with features to assist in accessing different components. For example, some external lighting assemblies include a pivoting mechanism that allows a user to shift the lighting components downward to assist in accessing rear components. However, even in such systems, the lighting components remain positioned between a user and the electronics or require lighting components to hang into the interior of a room (below the lower surface of the ceiling), and do not provide completely open access to the rear components.
Additionally, building members within which a recessed lighting assembly can be installed vary greatly in terms of materials and thickness. For example, different lighting assemblies or mounts would be required for installation into a 0.25 inch thick ceiling versus a 0.5 inch thick ceiling, and other ceilings of thicknesses up to approximately 2.5 inches. In years prior this required many different components and unique assemblies to accommodate different building materials and thicknesses.